Cornell University, Lehigh University stand in first and second in EIWA Tournament

Express-Times Photo | CHRIS POSTZach Rey, of Hopatcong, N.J., is introduced during the Brown and White Wrestleoffs in October at the Leeman-Turner Arena in Grace Hall. Rey is one of 10 Mountain Hawks to make it to Sunday competition in the EIWA Tournament.

A century ago this year, Cornell University won its first of six consecutive EIWA titles, an accomplishment not achieved in the era since the end of World War II.

But now the Cornell wrestlers stand on the precipice of history, as the Big Red entered this weekend's EIWA tournament with five straight conference crowns.

But if anyone can knock them from their lofty perch, it's the Mountain Hawks of Lehigh University.

Buoyed by a partisan crowd of 1,674, Lehigh will send all 10 of its entered wrestlers to the mats Sunday, including four in the championship finals. Cornell also has 10 wrestlers alive, five in the finals.

"We talked about it this week, we thought we had a chance to get eight in the finals, we knew we had to wrestle extremely well and we came up short today, though three of those matches could have come in there," Santoro said. "We knew getting everybody healthy was key, and they wrestled pretty well. It wasn't outstanding but it was a good day."

When wrestling resumes, all eyes will be focused on defending NCAA champion Zach Rey of Lehigh at 285 pounds when he squares off against top-seed Ryan Flores of American University, though it's not just the rankings that make this bout a must.

Last year Flores produced an overtime victory in the EIWA final over Rey, then the defending EIWA champion. Rey, currently ranked second in the nation, then returned the favor defeating Flores in the NCAA finals by virtue of riding time.

In a pair of one-vs.-two seeds title bouts, Lehigh senior Brandon Hatchett will wrestle for the 165-pound title against Rutgers University's Scott Winston while junior Robert Hamlin faces Cornell's 184-pounder Steve Bosak.

In one of the more surprising finals, Lehigh's 149-pounder Shane Welsh will meet eighth-seeded Kevin Tao of American. Tao earned a spot in the semis after top-seeded Mario Mason of Rutgers and a Blair Academy graduate, medically defaulted.

For his part, Welsh earned a 2-1 tiebreaker over Cornell's Chris Villalonga, another Blair graduate, then advanced when Harvard University's Corey Jantzen couldn't take the mat due to injury.

"There wasn't a lot of action. For some reason I was being real cautious, I wasn't really letting go. No one was really taking a chance on any attacks, it was a real low scoring match and I let it get away from me in overtime," Villalonga said. "I never should have let it go there."

Lehigh's chances to win the team title rest as much with the wrestlers in the consolations as in the championships, such as true freshman Mason Beckman, wrestling in a consolation semifinal. Beckman, like all the Mountain Hawks, can secure one of the 46 automatic berths to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis in two weeks that are at stake.

"This is definitely the most important stage I've been on, being that it's the qualifier for nationals," Beckman said.

The Mountain Hawks' 133-pounder made it to the quarterfinals, but even he admitted his performance left him wanting.

"I'm an offensive wrestler, I score a lot of points for the most part, that's when I'm at my best and I just wasn't pulling the trigger very much at all today to be completely honest," Beckman said. "I was a little hesitant, I came in a little nervous for a couple different reasons, with this being my first EIWA tournament and a couple little things got in my head that shouldn't have."

But personal glory isn't what interests Beckman.

"I've got to wrestle well, score some points, see if we can't win the conference as a team," Beckman added.

A mantra heard in Princeton, all the way from Bethlehem.

"Our guys came here really wanting to win this tournament and we've got a lot of work to do tomorrow for that to happen, we've got to have an exceptional day tomorrow for that to happen" Santoro said. "But our ultimate goal is to get as many guys to nationals and put them on the podium."

Speaking of the podium, one Express-Times area alum will be atop it at 125 pounds when when Cornell's sixth-ranked Frank Perelli, a Hackettstown native and Delbarton School graduate, grapples once again with Blair alum Garrett Frey of Princeton.

Perelli posted two technical falls and a major decision en route to the finals while Frey impressively registered two falls and a tech fall.

"I'm really happy with my performance so far," Frey said. "Together with help from my teammates and coaches, we've been experimenting with some things and now we've got the puzzle finally put together. At Blair, we wrestled around the clock, and I didn't always like it, that's part of maturing, but I really want to thank coach (Jeff) Buxton for pushing me through.When you get to college and you wrestle all year long, having done it in high school helped prepare me so that I didn't have as big of a jump from high school to college."